new camera, first wedding shots

[SunnySideUp]

Okay, my wife was kind enough to buy be a Canon 10D for a present. I was playing with it at a wedding that she was in so I had lots of time to play while the photographer took photos... I was using a tamaron 70 - 300 f4-5.6. I gave the Appeture the priority and left the rest to the camera.

Let me know what you think... TIA

[tab]

Okay, you took some snapshots and the exposures look pretty good plus you ventured from the program mode and that's good. The first photo I think you wanted both the couple and flower garden in the frame. You were willing to cut off her dress to get the flowers in or you weren't willing to kneel down to get the picture. You don't need the complete garden to get the effect but if you're going to show 95% of the bride show all of her. This is the difference between taking a snapshot and taking a picture. You might be a little self conscious at first but believe me, nobody is paying any attention to you at a wedding. Move around get the chairs out of the frame, kneel down and get the better photograph. The second shot the same advice move to your left, get the stand out of the picture and move the shadow of the groom off the bride. I know you're not the photographer but start thinking like that and all your pictures will improve but don't stop taking pictures. The third one maybe warranted a smaller aperture or somebody with a black tux or at least a darker background behind it if you wanted the portrait look of cake.

[opus]

Hi Sunny! I understand that you were just playing with your new camera, and that's totally cool. Tab has some really good advice too if you want to take your photography to the next level, but you can take your sweet time getting there if you want. There's a lot of good advice here, and so far I've found it all to be helpful and my photos have improved since I've been here.

ps. Is that a toilet in the background of the second shot, under the scaffolding? I'm trying to figure out what kinds of things they have in the garden there. It's interesting.

[SunnySideUp]

Thanks Tad and Kelly...
I have lots of stuff to work on... That day I was just so excited about the camera. I was really trying to learn depth of field... mainly having a very short depth of field. That is a feature that I had a hard time getting out of my point n shoot. Plus I wasn't use to having so much time to think about each shoot, I usually shoot people on bicycles.
Thanks for the advice.

Here are a few more photos.

[Clicker]

I agree that tab has some very good ( and straight forward) advice. Also, I agree that the background behind the cake lacks something, I also think you should crop off some of the bottom of the cake photo, maybe get rid of the first two roses, and since the background is lacking, try switching this over to Black and White. Second posts, look really good, definately different from the "snapshot" look of the first two. Does the Priest and large floral arrangements look blurry to anyone? (on the last shot)

[opus]

Rachel, this is where he was working on DOF and got it right but in the wrong place. It would be great for the flowers to be out of focus, but the priest is an integral part of the story and so should be either completely in focus with the couple, or so out of focus that the couple stand alone.

The top one of the second bunch is good, but I think would have benefitted from a vertical orientation.

Sunnysideup, will you be able to see the photos that the hired photographer took? It would be interesting to compare his to yours, and see what decisions he made in his shots at the same moment you were making your decisions. Look past any softening or filter effects he used, and just look at orientation and composition, and see what works. I think that kind of opportunity doesn't come around too often, where you are in the same place as a professional and can see what he's done. It's worth it when you want to learn.

[another view]

Personally, I like the composition and DOF of the last shot. The background is just dark enough that it there's some separation between it and the subject. Problem is, the white subject and white background fooled the meter so it's a little underexposed. This can easily be saved (lightened) in photoshop or another image editing program.

The problem I see with the shots of the bride is what scares me with digital cameras and weddings. You have contrasty light and exposure is good - except one important point. The bride's dress is blown out so there's no detail in it. Some wedding photographers have switched back to film (believe it or not) because color negative film has much more latitude than digital. Maybe next time pull her into the shade if you get a chance.